Gop Legislators Rip Democrats On Taxes

January 05, 1990|By BOB KEMPER Staff Writer

RICHMOND — State Republican lawmakers accused the Democratic administration on Thursday of transforming Virginia "from a low-tax to a high-tax state."

Noting the looming budget crisis, members of the Joint Republican Caucus pointed fingers at Democratic Gov. Gerald L. Baliles and cited their own election-time assertions that the state will be left with "a crippled budget with which to deal with the problems of the 1990s."

The Republicans made no proposals of their own for coping with the immediate crisis.

Instead, they proposed eight changes to the process under which the budget is crafted.

For one thing, they proposed the General Assembly take more time with the budget during its session. They also want the governor to give longer-range projections on what he expects to spend and the development of performance standards for state agencies.

The lawmakers also brought out Jim Miller, budget director for former President Reagan, who said Democratic governors and legislators have continually solved state spending problems by raising taxes.

"But we can't raise taxes anymore," he said at a Capitol news conference.

"I'm afraid the Old Dominion will become another Tax-achusetts," said Miller, referring to a Republican criticism of Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, a failed presidental candidate.

The Republicans cited a Money magazine survey that ranked Virginia 18th for taxes but did not elaborate.

Other rankings have placed the state in different positions. The Census Bureau, for instance, ranked the state 22nd in average taxes paid per person in 1988.

Replying to the Republicans' assertions, D.K. Starr, spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party, said: "This is the last bastion for a dying breed."

Noting the federal government's own budget is out of balance, Starr questioned any advice Miller could offer the state, which always balances its budget.

"I find that almost laughable," she said.

State Del. Clinton Miller, R-Shenandoah, blasted the media for ignoring Republican predictions that the state, which had enjoyed years of booming growth and budget surpluses, was headed for a financial crisis.

Those assertions had been made by a special committee appointed by the GOP's failed gubernatorial candidate, J. Marshall Coleman, during the fall campaign.

Baliles announced last month he was cutting the budgets of select agencies by 2 percent and was freezing some construction projects to cope with the loss of $181 million the state failed to raise in tax revenues.

Baliles further predicted the state's costs would outstrip revenues by nearly $1 billion over the next two years unless more actions were taken soon.